260 BIG GAME SHOOTING 



time of day and parted. Wild elephants, too, are not uncom- 

 mon in certain parts, so that altogether there is always a chance 

 of finding amusement. What fun there must have been in the 

 Sewaliks in the days of the Ganesa mammoth and the four- 

 horned moose-like sivatherium ! Their remains in the British 

 Museum make one's mouth water to think of them. 



Among the larger ranges of hills in Southern India, the 

 best way of hunting is to send men in pairs before daybreak to 

 well-chosen positions to watch the forest, the sportsman with 

 one attendant taking a line of his own, and working on or 

 watching his particular beat till the sun is beginning to get 

 powerful and the animals have lain down for the day ; then he 

 should himself go round the different groups of watchers and 

 collect their reports. It is important that the sportsman should 

 go round himself and not depute the work to his shikari, as a 

 stag or a bear may often have been marked down to an inch 

 by the watchers and may be stalked forthwith, whilst if a drive 

 be decided upon the sportsman has an opportunity of studying 

 the ground and settling all the details with his head shikari on 

 the spot. Having gone round his sentries and withdrawn the 

 men, he should then return to camp for breakfast, order beaters 

 for any drives he has decided on, and about n A.M., when the 

 sun is really hot and the animals marked down are likely to 

 be disinclined to move, and so enable the beaters and guns 

 to get into position, he should begin operations. All driving 

 should be done in the heat of the day, when the animals are 

 lying down ; trying to drive when beasts are naturally on the 

 move generally results in the game leaving the beat before the 

 men are in their places. Another great point to attend to in 

 driving is for the sportsman, if possible, to get up into a tree. 

 It may sound ridiculous for a man to climb up a tree in a 

 sambur drive, but he is far more likely to get an easy shot in 

 this position, as the deer will neither see nor wind him, he 

 commands more ground, and he runs no risk of heading back 

 the wary old hind which often leads the herd ; the chances 

 being that if he is rightly posted the herd will come right 



